About the four seasons

Season

Spring

The season of new beginnings emerges with breaths of life.
The season of spring that everyone longs for is always filled with radiance.

The surface of Lake Akan starts to shine in spring, after being sealed by thick ice during winter.
In the surrounding forests and waterfront, the pulses of organisms that declare the beginning of the season also start to spread at once, as if they had been waiting for the moment.

Events in Spring

Once butterbur sprouts spring out from underneath the deep piles of snow in the forests, spring flowers start to bloom one after another to mark the arrival of the season in Hokkaido.

Summer

Summer is the dynamic season in which the depth of bright green leaves increases by the day.
The short summer in the Kushiro Area is enjoyed energetically by both humans and nature.
Summer in Kushiro Marsh. The waterfront is always comfortable, with shining sunlight and fresh breeze. Active and dynamic lives of organisms flourish everywhere, including forests, lakes, rivers and the ocean.
It is as though they are trying to acquire as much power as possible from the short-lived summer.

Events in Summer

Especially because summer is short, people strongly aspire to fully enjoy the season.
With appreciation of being in the rich nature, many events of various fields are held in and energizing each region of the Kushiro Area.

Autumn

The ocean and land of the Kushiro Area become colored with the flame of life.
The deep, affluent nature brings rich blessings to humans and other creatures.

The ultimate blessings delivered from the ocean enrich even the forests. The salmon, which return to the mother river and feed their home forest and organisms living there, have been important gifts from kamui (god) to the Kushiro Area since time immemorial.

Events in Autumn

The gratitude for the rich blessings from the land and ocean leads people to gather together throughout the ages. Autumn in the Kushiro Area is also filled with the feeling of appreciation for the nature.

Winter

Even in this quiet season when white snow and ice cover the land entirely, strong pulses of life can be felt all around.

You can canoe down the headwaters section of the Kushiro River from the frozen Lake Kussharo in winter.
White breath, beautiful soft rime and the sound of water flowing quietly and purely...
These are the touching experiences that you can only have in this area during this season.

Events in Winter

Enjoy cold days! In recent years, events and experiential tours to fully enjoy the winter of the Kushiro Area are increasing in popularity. In addition to trekking tours with snow shoes which allow people to walk through deep snow easily and canoe tours limited to winter, there are also long-running annual events held on completely frozen lakes, including various activities and fireworks.